In such known panel elements, the tongue and groove joint is established by a movement normal to the utilization side. A shift of the panel elements parallel to the laying plane is not necessary in this case.
DE 100 01 076 C1 discloses a panel element, the tongue of which comprises a hook element having an almost circular cross-section on the face side of the panel element and the groove of which has a recess with opposite contour. The drawback of the tongue and groove joint according to DE 100 01 076 C1 is that a great force is required for connecting the tongue with the groove so that the panel element, in particular the utilization side and/or the edges of the recess, can easily be damaged when laid. When the edges of the recess are damaged, the tongue and groove joint often only gives a minor support so that an undesired disconnection of the tongue and groove joint may occur when the panel element is loaded. Another drawback is that in the case of repeated disconnection and new connection of the tongue and groove joint, the forces transmitted by the tongue and groove joint are strongly reduced on account of the deformations of groove and/or tongue.
FR 2 278 876 A discloses a panel element comprising a tongue having a hook element in the form of a dovetail, a flank of the dovetail being perpendicular to the utilization side. The groove also has a hook element in the form of a dovetail, a flank of the dovetail being perpendicular to the counter draw. A drawback of the panel element of FR 2 278 876 A is that with the tongue and groove joint a contact point is only formed on one side of the hook element so that on account of fabrication tolerances the tongue and groove joint is not clearance-free and there is only a small resistance to a dimensional change of the tongue which is caused by the climate.
WO 01/02670 A1 discloses a panel element comprising a tongue which has the shape of a dovetail, a flank of the dovetail being perpendicular to the decorative side. The groove also has the shape of a dovetail, a flank of the dovetail being perpendicular to the counter draw. A drawback of the panel element according to WO 01/02670 is that with the tongue and groove joint a contact point is only formed on one side of the tongue and/or groove so that on account of fabrication tolerances the tongue and groove joint is not clearance-free. The tongue and groove joint only has a small resistance to a dimensional change of the tongue and/or groove which is caused by the climate since the tongue can be twisted relative to the groove.